Gemstone identifying equipment

I live in a small big town. In Texas jewelry making very competitive
for those that do it here. That’s why I jumped to join Orchid. There
is nothing close to Victoria Texas that I have been able to find so
I am trying to do all this myself. I have been beading since I was
little and later was given some old lapidary equipment by my cousin
whose stepfather had passed. To make a long story short , it had
oodles of real gemstones ( I had a few looked at but they take some
of ur stuff as a price, and they tell you but its their choice not
urs) all I get are vague answers. A lot of nepotism here so HELP
anyone. Books. Videos anything. I would be the happiest if there was
anyone close distance who wanted a student or apprentice.

You can check out the club Victoriagemandmineral.com. I drive about
90 miles to the rock club meetings closest to me and it’s well worth
it. When you are really interested they are glad to share their
knowledge.

Bobbie
Bobbie Horn
Brownfield, TX. 79316

I had a few looked at but they take some of ur stuff as a price,
and they tell you but its their choice not urs 

Good Grief!!! Can you spell conflict of interest?

all I get are vague answers 

What a racket! Pick the cherries and tell you you have pits.

After a good loupe or gemscope, the most useful instrument in real
life is a refractometer. Then comes the polariscope, which neatly,
can be used as the light source for the refracto. With these two
instruments you should be able to ID the great majority of common
Forget hardness and streak tests, they involve damage to
the stone, yeah that’s real useful. A dichroscope is helpful for some
separations. UV lights have their place. SG liquids give only an
indication in most cases but never on mounted stones. IDing gems is a
process of elimination. Get the RI, tells you where on the charts you
need to look for further identifying characteristics.

The instruments are pricey. You’d have to judge how important it is
to you to be able to run the tests yourself. Kassoy has a beginner’s
kit at $1800.